


They came in the Night

by Chibifukurou



Category: A Quiet Place (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 19:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17028678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: Beau had talked about nothing except the meteor shower since he'd heard about it on the radio.It was supposed to be the biggest shower in recorded history. A once in a lifetime event.Nobody knew what was going to come after.





	They came in the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LJ_McKay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJ_McKay/gifts).



> I tried to use GLOSS for Regan's speech, but I have limited ASL and GlOSS knowledge so it may be notated incorrectly. 
> 
> Set pre-movie, I tried to retain the feel of limited dialog and a focus on action. And using news outlets as a way to get data.

Beau falls asleep just after dinner. When Lee goes to wake him for the long walk out to the silo, he almost leaves him there to sleep. He looks so peaceful wrapped up tight in his rocket ship pajamas and sheets. But, if they miss the meteor shower, Beau will have the worst tantrum. It is all he’s been talking about for days. Since he’d heard about it on the radio.

It is hours past his bedtime, and they’ll all pay for this with a cranky four-year-old in the morning. But the radio says this is the biggest meteor shower in recorded history. A once in a lifetime event.

He picks Beau up from the bed, he is a limp weight in Lee‘s arms. Rather than try to get him into his winter coat and hat, Lee just wrapped him in his sheets. They’ll only be out for an hour. And the first chilly nip of fall is still mild enough they won’t freeze.

Climbing down the stairs, he doesn’t see Regan until they are right on top of her. She’s has her denim jacket pulled on over pajama pants and boots.

“You’re supposed to be in bed. It’s a school day tomorrow.”

The flashlight comes on, in her hand, angled so she can see his mouth without blinding him. Here in the dim hallway she wouldn‘t have be able to read his lips, he can’t speak loudly for fear of waking Beau and he can’t sign with his arms full. He repeats himself.

She waits a beat before turning the flashlight off. Once it's under her chin, pointed at her hands she turns it back on. It would need to highlight her face too, to get the full meaning of the signs, but he could see enough. LATE NIGHT YOU DANGEROUS.

It won’t hurt to have an extra pair of hands to help with Beau. Nothing dangerous is likely to happen. But they’ve taught the kids not to go out in the fields late at night without taking someone with them. He waits until the flashlight is back on his face. “Can you take him?”

She holds out her arms for Beau. Lee makes the switch, then has to scramble for the flashlight before it can fall. Beau is almost half her size. And she has to drape him over her shoulder since he is asleep and can’t hold on.

Lee points the flashlight back at his face. “You good?”

He can make out her nod in the dim light. He points the flashlight at himself, one more time. “Alright, stay close.”

Outside, the moon is a bare sliver. All the better for meteor watching. It makes the white-washed porch seem to glow almost silver. Once they get down among the corn, the path is hard to see as the corns’ vast, grasping shadows enfolds them.

Even when he turns the flashlight back on, it is barely enough to light the path right under his feet. When he looks behind him, he can only make out the vague outline of Regan’s body against the pale ghostly white of the sheet Beau was wrapped in.If it wasn't for the soft crunch of her footsteps he'd feel completely alone. 

The silo is a towering white edifice against the black nighttime sky. He’s lost track of time, surrounded by the masses of corn, but he thinks the meteor shower will be soon. Reaching to Regan, he takes Beau from her. Letting her grab the flashlight.

“Beau... Beau.” Lee shakes Beau gently until his dark head pops up from where it rested against his chest.

“Daddy?”

“Meteor shower time.”

His eyes light up. And a huge grin spreads across his face. “Meteors!”

“Yeah, bud. Can you grab my neck, so I can get to the ladder?”

It takes a moment for the words to register, Beau is shaking with so much excitement. His arms clamp around Lee’s neck, and his heels dig into Lee’s sides.

They’ve done this a few times before, climbing the Silo together. But it is still a special treat because climbing the ladder isn't the safest.

Lee wraps the trailing end of the sheet around himself, tyimg Beau into place. An extra layer of protection. He grabs hold of the ladder and starts to climb.

The clang of the flashlight impacting against the ladder, tells him Regan is not far behind.

On top of the Silo there is nothing but them and the black velvet of the sky. Far below, the dark, almost black, green of the corn stretches away. The softest hint of light comes from their house, and the other farms that dot the far side of the valley.

The sharp pinpricks of stars, and the tiny crescent of the moon light the darkness. There are no clouds in the sky, The world holds its breath.

Lee unties the sheet and lowers Beau to the Silo’s roof. His tiny face is immediately turned upwards. Lee wraps the sheet tighter around him and goes to sit on the small camp stool he keeps up here.

Regan rests her head on his lap. Together they wait.

Beau is the first to see them. “Look! Look!” He jumps up and down, finger pointing to the sky.

“I see it bud. Make sure you don’t jump on-top of the doors.” He’s feet away from it, but Lee still worries.

One flash of light burning across the sky, becoming a dozen, then two dozen, until the sky is full of light so bright it drowns out all the stars. It seems like the whole sky is falling.

Beau has frozen in absolute joy. His mouth wide and his eyes huge.

Definitely worth dealing with him being overtired tomorrow.

The deep throbbing noise doesn’t register at first. It is like his heartbeat. Regan jerks upright, hands scrambling for the off-switch on her implant. The scream that she lets out is visceral. A second later the thump so loud it's shaking his bones apart.

Beau looks at them and his eyes go large and horrified. There is a scream of noise, and Lee is on his feet, lunging for Beau, shielding him with his body.

The roar engulfs them and the heat feels like standing next to a bonfire.

A noise like a hundred thunderclaps at once, like a dozen of the controlled explosions at the quarry. The whole silo picks up the noise, shuddering and shaking under them.

Another scream sounds overhead, another explosion set to shake the world apart.

And another, only a minute after that.

Lee’s mind tries to reason, tries to come up with a cause for all of this that isn’t meteors hitting their farm. Finally there is silence, and the sound of Beau sobbing under him. Regan’s screaming sobs at his back.

He dares to raise his head. And they are all still here, the silo is still standing. Staggering to his feet, he looks out across the valley. There are three blazing coronas of light in the distance. The sky is black and clear, the meteor shower has stopped, like it never happened at all.

The lights in the farmhouse all come on. Evelyn will have heard the noise. The whole world should have heard the noise. They need to get back to the house before she comes looking for them.

There has been enough excitement for tonight.

Bending, he scoops Beau into his arms. His son’s arms clutch at him spasmodically. Lee ties the sheet around him tightly, not trusting him to hold on. He lays a hand on Regan’s arm.

She jumps, her face staring up. Eyes huge and scared. It feels like when she was a little girl and still expected him to fix everything in the world.

He motions towards the ladder and moves to start the climb down. After a moment, she pulls herself upright and follows him down. The only sound left, is Beau’s soft sobs, and the clang of their feet on the ladder.

When they are halfway back to the house, the distant sounds of fire-trucks fills the silence.

Evelyn is waiting on the front porch for them. She has a coat and robe thrown over her nightgown. And is reaching for Beau before Lee even makes it up the stairs. They have to work together to get his arms unwrapped from Lee’s neck, but when he realizes Evelyn is there, he clutches her instead.

Regan takes his place, pressed up against Lee’s side. And when they go inside Marcus takes Lee’s other side. “Let's make cocoa.” He says. Lowering his hand he signed it where Regan could see. He felt her nod against his side.

He left the kids clustered around Evelyn in the living-room, while he went to heat the milk. The TV clicked on to the local news station as he left the room. The local new caster’s voice was shaky but clear as he talked about unconfirmed reports of meteor strikes.

By the time he returned with a tray full of cocoa, they had a reporter on the scene. A younger girl, Lee doesn’t recognize. Probably a new hire. Her smile doesn’t do much to hide the fear in her eyes. “The Fire Department is assuring everyone that the threat is over. They have cordoned off the area and are asking people to stay away until they can confirm that this was a meteor strike.

The camera cuts away from her, and to the meteor. It is larger than Lee is tall, dark black and cracked open to show a hollow space within.

A shiver crawls down Lee’s back. It looks like an egg.

But that is just ridiculous. Nothing could survive that fall. They watch the news as it repeats until the kids have all finished their Cocoa and started to fall asleep. Then he picks Marcus up and carries him up the stairs to his room. Regan following behind. And Evelyn bringing up the rear, with Beau in her arms.

Once the kids are all in bed, he and Evelyn climb into their own. She falls asleep in his arms. Her deep, slow breath its usual lullaby lulling him to sleep. But as sleep takes him, the image of that cracked open meteor playing and replaying in his head.


End file.
